Morning Digest: Houses of six militants razed in Kashmir; massive explosion at Iran port kills at least 14 people and injures over 700, and more

The Hindu Morning Digest gives a select list of stories to start the day. Read the top news today on April 27, 2025

At least six more houses of alleged active militants were turned into rubble through controlled blasts, while more than 100 residences of alleged militant supporters were searched, and hundreds of local people were detained in Kashmir on Saturday, against the backdrop of the Pahalgam terror attack on April 22 that left 26 civilians dead. Meanwhile, there was no let-up in skirmishes on the Line of Control (LoC) for the second day. Local people said security forces raided three villages in south Kashmir’s Kulgam, Shopian, and Pulwama and directed residents to empty the localities surrounding the houses of three alleged active militants.

The explosion of unknown origin at Iran’s most advanced container port has now killed 14 people and injured 750 others, Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni said in an update Sunday.

“Fourteen dead and 750 injured so far in the explosion at Shahid Rajaee Port in Bandar Abbas,” Mr. Momeni said. The death toll had previously stood at eight.

The duty of the king is to protect people, and the king must perform his duty, Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat said on Saturday, following the Pahalgam terror attack in which 26 people were killed. Mr. Bhagwat criticised Pakistan for its “evil act” .He was speaking in Delhi at the launch of a book, The Hindu Manifesto, authored by Swami Vigyananand, a senior functionary of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, and initiator of the World Hindu Congress.

As the global condemnation mounts, the Lashkar-e-Taiba’s (LeT) front The Resistance Front (TRF) on Saturday (April 26, 2025) denied its involvement in the Pahalgam terror attack, which left 26 civilians dead, and termed the previous online claim as a breach. “We unequivocally deny any involvement in the Pahalgam incident. Any attribution of this act to TRF is false, hasty, and part of an orchestrated campaign to malign the Kashmiri resistance,” a TRF spokesman said, in a purported claim made on social media platforms.

Police departments in various States, including Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh, were asked to ensure that Pakistani nationals leave the country by Sunday, as per the Union Ministry of Home Affairs’ (MHA) April 24 directive. The order issued by the MHA following the Pahalgam terror strike stated that all visas, except medical, long-term and diplomatic visas, issued to Pakistani citizens will be revoked from April 27. Those with medical visas have been given until April 29 to leave. On Friday, Union Home Minister Amit Shah asked all Chief Ministers to ensure that Pakistani citizens don’t stay beyond the deadline.

Khwas, a remote block situated in Jammu and Kashmir’s Rajouri district along the Line of Control (LoC) with Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK), has not experienced any terrorism-related incidents in the past year, according to a presentation made by Deputy Commissioner Abhishek Sharma on April 21. The change comes after four panchayats in the block were connected by road for the first time under the Union government’s Aspirational Block Programme.